The year they took our pennies away
I watched goodness die
In an Ice storm.
It blew across the country,
Spurred on by frozen hearts.
In the year they took our luck away,
So that they could nickel and dime us
To death,
The ones who warn us against hell
Unleashed it in our cities.
In the year that Abe Lincoln
Went out of circulation,
He was replaced
By a lily-white frost
That spread over our land.
It doesn’t matter that pennies go away.
The wishing wells are all
Frozen over.
Our hopes just bounce
Back in our faces.
The year they took
Our two cents worth
Away from us,
They gave them instead to billionaires,
Who piled them in great heaps.
In the year that pennies
Could no longer be given
For thoughts,
We were forced to think freely;
Truth without recompense.
In the year that they tried
To devalue us by hate
Until death,
I watched goodness resurrected
In a million marching feet.
They can take our pennies
And cover the brown earth
With white frost,
But we trade in the currency of freedom.
We will keep it, no matter the cost.
j.w. McKinleyville, 1/12/26
